Water polo girls start league play with two wins
Ramona High School’s girls water polo team won its first two Valley League contests, defeating Orange Glen at home Jan. 13 and Canyon Crest in a Jan. 15 match played at La Jolla’s Jewish Community Center.
“Not a bad start,” said Coach Donnie Williams. “The girls are doing well together.”
The wins gave Ramona a 5-4 overall season record as well as a 2-0 league mark. The 12-0 victory over Orange Glen broke a two-game losing streak for the Bulldogs.
“They have a lot of young girls on their team,” Williams said of Orange Glen, who returned just one player from the 2007-08 season. “We scored a lot early on.”
Ramona led 8-0 after the first quarter.
“Then we started backing off,” Williams said.
Ramona’s backups built up a 10-0 halftime lead before Williams forsook shooting opportunities in favor of practicing plays.
“We had to really work on basic fundamentals,” Williams said. “That was a big plus.”
The Patriots put up some offense, but Ramona goalkeeper Jessica Patterson had five saves over the first three periods before yielding the nets to Katelyn Bakun, who added a save. Patterson also had an assist from the nets during a successful counterattack.
Ashley Brean and Ashley Shields each scored twice against Orange Glen, while one goal apiece was tallied by Bakun, Autumn Hillis, Stephanie Long, Kaylee Nelson, Desiree Nihart, Jackie Schnapp, Taylor Shinnick, and Laura Vega.
“The scoring was really well spread out,” Williams said.
The 5-3 win over Canyon Crest saw Ramona overcome a 2-0 deficit. The Ravens scored the only goal of the first period and added a second tally before Ramona first put a ball into the net late in the second quarter.
The 2-1 halftime deficit became a 5-2 Ramona lead after three periods.
“We had a really good third quarter,” Williams said.
The Ravens closed out the scoring midway in the fourth period.
“Our defense really played solid,” Williams said. “It was actually good defense played on both sides.”
Three of Patterson’s four saves were made in the fourth period, and Patterson added an assist from the nets. Nelson scored three goals, Bakun had one goal and two assists, and Shinnick recorded one goal and one assist.